Lady in the Water

Synopsis

Time is running out for a happy ending.

Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.

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I thought about it, but honestly could not arrive at an answer. I do not know what was going through M.Night’s mind when he came up with this idea. Even more baffling is what gave him the impression that this would work and be accepted. The concept is total bollocks. The juxtaposition of fairy tale elements along with reality simply does not work here, as all the characters are mere devices, cardboard-like, uninteresting, ill-conceived, and dreadfully executed. They come off looking utterly dim-witted as they are shown to comfortably believe in such fatuous happenings.

Part of my frustration stems from the fact that the film did not even deliver on the promise of an…

This corpse has been picked over plenty, and while I'll stipulate that it's a bit undercooked and pretty silly, on a rewatch I think it's one of those things you just have to deliberately slide into, which makes sense given that it's all of a piece with SIGNS and THE VILLAGE in its depiction of an insular community or group united by belief. You can choose to read Bob Balaban's character as a snipe at all critics, or you can take it as a representation of blanket, unfeeling skepticism. Up to you. Anyway, Shyamalan may exhibit all manner of ill-advised creative hubris but that doesn't mask his exceptional capabilities as a visual filmmaker. It's hard to make an ugly movie…

I often talk about how much I want an adaptation of Stephen King's Lisey's Story but Lady In The Water is pretty much the... exact vibe for me. Super important that almost every shot before the Lady is introduced is obstructed - there is something missing from the lives of everybody in this, the decreasing length of Shyamalan's shots slowly finding the core of what makes these people tick - but this isn't a film about people; it's about conflict (involving people). If the Water is purity/the capacity to imagine & believe/where all myth comes from then the Land - the location of our narrative - is a blight on the freedom of half-lit 'truer' perception. Just look at how this…

There is so much about this modern day fairy tale that I loved! It even managed to squeeze a couple tears out of me! So why does it feel like a rough draft! Perhaps the editor got scissor happy and left one too many film clips on the cutting room floor!

The highlight of the film in my eyes was Paul Giamatti he worked his arse off and moved me to tears with his gut wrenching performance!

Final Word: I can't recommend a film that feels like a first draft no matter how much potential I saw in it!

Lady in the Water proves that M. Night Shyamalan is on drugs. This movie is flat out stupid. It seriously didn't make an ounce of sense. There was nothing interesting going on at all; it was a total bore-fest that nearly put me to sleep. There is no plot and the film's setting is an apartment complex swimming pool. This is the dumbest "fairytale" ever. I said WTF about 7 times during this movie. Lady in the Water is actually worse than The Last Airbender, believe it or not. Also why does Shyamalan put himself in all of his movies!? He is a horrendous actor. I guess his arrogance level is just through the roof.

This is s-s-s-tupid. I feel bad for Paul Giamatti and the rest of the cast since they are good here (well I don't feel bad for M. Night). The acting is really the only positive thing to say about a pretty ridiculous movie. I guess if you like fantasy stories, you could get something out of this, but really it's mostly nonsensical and, even worse, boring.

It's also incredibly pretentious. Maybe M. Night should have taken a page from Uwe Boll and just had a boxing match with a critic. Anyways, at some point they defeat a grass monster because a kid figures out shit from a cereal box. I'm sure eating that cereal would make me wanna narf.

Shyamalan's homage to all kinds of artistic expression and its power to affect people, helping them find their purpose and realize we all have a small role on this big engine (one of the most anti-individualism movies I've seen in quite some time on that regard). It's silly, of course, but there's a lot of charm on the goofiness: like the whole film is a bedtime story with funny, naive moments and ridiculous one-note quirky characters living together with nefarious, fantastical creatures. So pure, so innocent, so heartfelt, so beautiful.

This film is not without its flaws. Firstly some of the sub plots and dialogue only serve as exposition which is unnecessary. Secondly the CGI is awful. However, I really enjoy this film and the fairy tale element sweeps me with its heartwarming sentiment. The cinematography is well planned which makes this pleasing to watch and The score is amazingly grand. I enjoy the world which is created here and the characters which inhabit it. I’m a real fan of one loacation films so this appeals to me!

If there's one personality trait that I despise, it's arrogance. I hate people who think others are inferior. I say this as someone with a huge ego who hates myself because of it. To say I found Lady in the Water borderline unwatchable is an understatement. There's a film critic in Lady in the Water who is shown to be mean and a fool, and other characters even call him "arrogant". It's as if M. Night Shyamalan is showing us how he's above film criticism. But just because the critic explains the film's tropes does not make it a clever or satirical depiction of film criticism. Similarly, dialogue filled with allusions to God or talk of finding one's…

How can I give this the lowest score when its insanity is discussable for days, which must count as some kind of fascinating? Every character has a weird tick, disability, or obsession/hobby to pretend they are somewhat.

It's still a crock of shit though. "Cleveland Heep" sounds like an insult someone would have yelled at Paul Giamatti in a bar, but now it's his character, a stuttering nonsense protagonist that answers "When is Paul Giamatti ever bad?"

The Village, for my money, was M. Night Shyamalan's most interesting movie for ill and mostly good. He follows up its complicated backstory, impressive cast, and elaborate setbuilding be trying to recreate all of the above (I seriously hope people got to live…